Passive optical network incorporating fiber monitoring at receiving equipment

Abstract

A polarization sensing element is proposed to be used with one or more receivers in a PON system, a separate polarization sensing element located with selected receivers in a one-to-one association. The polarization sensing element is configured to track polarization changes in received signals while still using the IM-DD based transceivers to maintain compatibility with current (as well as future) IM-DD based PONs. Polarization sensing at several PON receivers may be used to monitor conditions at the fiber spans forming the ODN and report abnormal” conditions that may arise from the fiber itself (e.g., from a severe bend in a fiber span) or environmental changes at a fiber location (e.g., vibrations, excessive temperatures changes).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.